Archives for July, 2007

Massachusetts, which has one of the highest rates of childhood vaccination, is facing an increase in parents claiming religious exemptions from having to vaccinate their children, even though the number of kindergarteners has decreased. But these exemptions aren’t actually religious at all:

I’ve called those movement conservatives who think that successful policy execution–in peace or war–is about “will”, as opposed to, let’s say, execution, Peter Pan conservatives. Atrios has a very good explanation of why they believe so strongly in will–their own personal experience:

I’ve been away at a meeting, so I’m just starting to work my way through the comments. While I was away, I posted a picture that I called “LOLGeenomz!!” One comment was so brilliant that it deserves its own picture:

Thomas Bewick is best known as the eighteenth century’s premier woodcut engraver and ornithologist. His ornithology books were so well-written that they were popular for a century after his death. However, he was also a passionate political activist, who had seen what war did to his country and his fellow citizens’ liberties. Bewick wrote (italics…

I don’t mean that as snark. It’s a serious question. Suburbanization has to be one of the greatest human influences on the environment. So I was intrigued by this statement by Ross Douthat about suburbanization (bold Douthat, italics mine):

It isn’t always the message, sometimes it’s the medium. Or the media actually. Framing only goes so far. Often, getting your message out there comes down to schmoozing, intimidation, and hard work. This applies to politics and science. The Daily Howler rebuts neuroscientist Drew Westen’s take on the Bush-Gore debates of 2000 in Westen’s book,…